Knowing each student well is essential to a year of flourishing for students and educators. It’s a prerequisite to ensuring equitable access to belonging and wellbeing, a culturally-responsive learning environment, and deep learning. And it enriches the relationships so central to a thriving school. Personal learning plans (PLPs) can drive a rich and sustained process … Continue reading PLPs to Know Students Well: Introducing the Personal Learning Plan Toolkit →
228 days home with my 3 children. 88 days of remote learning, spanning 2 school years and 5 different grade levels. 10 different teachers. 34 Zoom meetings per week (not counting mine). Engagement level: 27%. This is parenting pandemic math. But who’s counting, right? At home, my kids are missing school. Or, more specifically, they … Continue reading PLPs, Parenting, and a Pandemic →
How can educators manage PLPs in remote learning? What goes into a Learning Management System? And what does it look like to effectively tie the two together in a smooth workflow? Seesaw + Google Classroom is one increasingly popular combination. SeeSaw is in heavy rotation as a platform for Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) and portfolios. … Continue reading Using Seesaw with Google Classroom for PLPs →
Connecting deeply with students matters. Research tell us this. So does teacher experience. Educators spend a lot of time learning about student interests, their families and cultures, their identities and dreams. This is important work, and is often based on what they show us, or tell us. But what if students are in the drivers … Continue reading Looking at PLPs →
Seeing students for who they are and what they can do We’re all still looking at various tools for building PLPs with our students but one thing we can all agree on is the power of PLPs to let us more clearly see our students, and learn more about them as individuals. Let’s look at … Continue reading PLPs in Seesaw →
What do PLPs and proficiency-based assessment have in common? They both emphasize what students CAN do. They’re not about ranking, sorting, and labeling. They’re about growth, progress, and opportunity for all. First, some definitions: According to the Vermont Agency of Education: The focus of proficiency-based learning is on students’ demonstration of desired learning outcomes. Students … Continue reading Ch 7: PLPs & Proficiency-Based Assessment →
Creating a personalized learning environment requires time and effort, for sure. It takes team building, as well as collaboratively setting expectations and procedures for how your group will learn together. The good news is that PLPs can actually help create this strong learning climate. At The Ottauquechee School, in Quechee VT, educator Kim Dumont conducted … Continue reading Ch 3: Laying The Groundwork for PLPs →
PLPs are for anyone who can provide access, enhance meaning, increase support, and expand learning for students. Wait! That means all of us! Families and caregivers. Student-led PLP conferences often help families see their child in new and positive ways, which can be helpful when many are starting to turn away from adults and toward … Continue reading Ch 2: PLPs Aren’t Just For The Teacher →
Knowing each student well is essential to a year of flourishing for students and educators. It’s a prerequisite to ensuring equitable access to belonging and wellbeing, a culturally-responsive learning environment, and deep learning. And it enriches the relationships so central to thriving among youth and adults alike. Personal learning plans (PLPs) can drive a rich … Continue reading Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) →
Foundations & Connections What is Proficiency-Based Learning? Vermont Agency of Education A New Era for Educational Assessment, David T. Conley, Jobs for the Future, 2014 How Selective Colleges and Universities Evaluate Proficiency-Based High School Transcripts: Insights for Students and Schools, Erika Blauth and Sarah Hadjian, New England Board of Higher Education, 2016 What is the … Continue reading Chapter 7: PLPs and Proficiency-Based Assessment →
Examples & Tools Student-Led Conferences and Engagement in PLPs, Audrey Homan, Tarrant Institute, 2016 The Rise of the Project-Based PLP, Life LeGeros, Tarrant Institute, 2018 What Makes for Good Goal-Setting in a PLP? Life LeGeros, Tarrant Institute, 2015 Growth and Reflection, PLP Pathways One-Year Plan for PLPs and SLCs, Swift House, Williston Central School One-Year … Continue reading Chapter 8: PLPs, Goal-Setting, and Student-Led Conferences →
Foundations & Connections Learner Profiles, The Institute for Personalized Learning Vermont Personalized Learning Plan: Conceptual Framework Narrative for Students, Vermont Agency of Education Examples & Tools Identity Project: Who am I now? Lindsey Halman, Essex Middle School Personal Learning Plan Community Page, Team Summit, Montpelier Main Street Middle School, Vermont How Can Students Teach Educators … Continue reading Chapter 4: Launching PLPs with the Learner Profile →
It’s about providing choice in reflection tools Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) across the state have taken many different forms and serve a few different purposes. One common thread among educators is a wondering of how to increase student engagement in the PLP process. How to make it more meaningful and relevant. Michael Willis, Jared Bailey, … Continue reading Increasing student engagement in PLPs at Williston Central →
Guiding Crossett Brook PLPs with student voice The Crossett Brook PLP student leadership group presented their recommendations on PLPs to the teaching staff at the end of the school year. The educators received the students’ ideas well. It was pretty cool to see a roomful of teachers rapt on a hot afternoon during the last … Continue reading Use a student leadership team for feedback on PLPs →
Standard 3-part story-driven post: 1) what it is, 2) what it looks like in a school, 3) how to do it in your school
Students themselves tell the best stories of their learning We wish we could hand you the one right way for students to reflect on their personal learning, on a silver platter. It sure would make the rest of the year a lot easier, right? But there are as many ways for students to reflect on … Continue reading How can students reflect on their PLPs? →
What Vermont students really think about personal learning plans Put 47 middle-level students together, challenge them to think differently about ways to create effective, relevant and meaningful Personalized Learning Plans, and watch the magic happen. This past summer, we did exactly that.
Motivating students around goals by connecting schools Many Vermont students have worked hard this year establishing personal and academic goals as an important part of developing Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). But when we speak with some of them or listen to teachers reflect on the process and progress, many share the need for additional motivation … Continue reading Cross-school goal-setting for PLPs →
Why the 2016 Middle Grades Institute may be the most important one yet
New podcast ep: We visit with educators at last summer’s Middle Grades Institute to look at how this unique professional development opportunity is helping Vermont’s middle grades educators deal with the challenges posed by legislative Act 77, the Flexible Pathways Initiative.
Also, 200 Vermont educators dance like dinosaurs. And rock at it.
Continue reading How Vermont middle grades educators are powering up PLPs this summer →
A teacher-authored case study Today we hear from a grade 5-6 team venturing into the world of personal learning plans (PLPs) using Google Tools. Jared Bailey, math teacher, and Joy Peterson, English Language Arts teacher, provide concrete details on how they rolled out PLPs this year, including links to such resources as graphic organizers that they used for … Continue reading Google Tools for personal learning plans (PLPs) →
A middle school case study Katie Bryant, an English teacher at Lamoille Union Middle School, presents the results of her semester-long action research project examining the relationship between student-led conferences and engagement in PLPs, or personal learning plans. Here’s what she and her team discovered. Transcript appears below. Hi! I’m Katie Bryant. I teach at … Continue reading Student-led conferences and engagement in PLPs →
Incorporating student choice into reading This screencast, from Crossett Brook Middle School, in Waterbury, Vermont, describes an action research project based on the premise that students would benefit if day-to-day classroom instruction reflected the choice and self-direction at the heart of Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs). In addition to the positive response of students, one of the … Continue reading PLPs and literacy →
Equity is the moral imperative behind all of the work we do here at the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education. In this new toolkit, we have collected many of our favorite posts about equity, including analyses and syntheses about equity in general, how to support equity in professional learning and in classrooms, and examples of … Continue reading Introducing our Equity Toolkit →
The moral imperative behind our work at TIIE has always been equity. It is also the basis of the middle school movement that we hold dear, which originated as a challenge to the status quo of junior high schools. As progressive educators, we promote shifts in education to bring more equitable outcomes, more humane learning … Continue reading Equity toolkit →
Many schools and classrooms across the country identify student skills for success. Ideally, those skills cut across content areas and are grouped within grade bands. They are communicated and prioritized within the learning community. While Vermont’s AOE has identified five Transferable Skills, some learning institutions choose different ones – sometimes also known as “21st century … Continue reading Essential Skills & Dispositions Toolkit →
Many schools and classrooms across the country identify student skills for success. Ideally, those skills cut across content areas and are grouped within grade bands. They are communicated and prioritized within the learning community. While Vermont’s AOE has identified five Transferable Skills, some learning institutions choose different ones – sometimes also known as “21st century skills”. … Continue reading NEW Essential Skills & Dispositions Toolkit →
The beginning of a school year is a great time to explore and reflect on identity. For teachers who are working with students for the first time, exploring identity is a great way to get to know them and to build relationships. For teachers working with returning students, well, they may have changed a lot … Continue reading Introducing our updated Identity Toolkit →
Many of the routines of the school day have been frayed by the pandemic. From kids unable to engage in work to walking out of class altogether, we are seeing norms and relationships stretched and tested like never before. This might even be described as “normal” right now — as in that it’s the norm, it’s … Continue reading Centering Relationships & Routines →
Take a moment to think about a learning experience that was meaningful to your students. How do you know that it was meaningful? How did they communicate that to you? In the Two Rivers Supervisory Union (TRSU), middle grades students are documenting their meaningful learning experiences using PLPs. You can check out some examples here. … Continue reading Care and Feeding of the PLP →
What do you see when you look at this picture? (For real, I’m not being sarcastic, what do you see?) I’m guessing you said, “cow.” According to Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human, “When shown a picture of a cow in a pasture, most Westerners will see a picture of a cow. Most Easterners, on … Continue reading Transferable Skill Deep Dive: Fostering communication →
Even in the best of times, October can be a tough month for teachers. And it’s hard to call covid times the best. In the latest issue of Educational Leadership, noted teaching coach Elena Aguilar suggests several ways to boost teacher resilience. Paired with understanding what personal efficacy looks like for young adolescents, teachers and … Continue reading Building resilience (for all) through personal efficacy →
Back on the show: it’s Bill Rich! But first: Lovely listeners, a few episodes ago, we turned fifty. Fifty! Can you imagine? It took us a hot minute (and um, more math than we’d care to discuss) to figure that out but this is the season that took us to FIFTY EPISODES. And we are … Continue reading #vted Reads: with Bill Rich →
How can a school community emerge from isolation to reflect on individual and collective experiences from this uniquely challenging and transformative year? This spring, Hazen Union Middle/High School came back together around a creative engagement installation: the Sounding Board. Part of a broader Hazen Youth Voices Project — a collaborative initiative launched by the school’s … Continue reading Fostering a Sound Culture at Hazen: Youth Voices and the Sounding Board Project →
Listeners! Today I’m joined by Jaida and Emma, two marvelous students from Southern Vermont, and the three of us share our love of picture books. The art, the messages, the emotions, the relatability… the art. So we’re going to be asking you to listen to this episode with both your ears and your eyes — … Continue reading vted Reads picture books! →
This week, something new for us: a letter from our mailbag. While we aim to help everyone on a regular basis, it’s always exciting to hear directly from our readers. In this case, we try to provide a little context-setting for a reader who goes by the handle, “Sustainably Yours”. “Dear InnovativeEd, I’ve been … Continue reading From the innovativeEd mailbag: Sustainably Yours →
Signs of spring surround us: snow is melting, the days are lengthening, and the mud has returned. So it must be time to think about school gardens! School gardens have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and for good reasons. They’re highly engaging, and ripe with educational opportunities, ha ha. But did you … Continue reading Personalized learning in the spring garden →
This year, I am hearing that many teachers feel they aren’t practicing the kind of teaching they believe in as much as they are used to and want to. They are stretched thin with all of the protocols and decisions and shifting situations the pandemic brings. That personalized learning, and service learning, feel further away … Continue reading Service learning (during a pandemic) →
No matter what that new year looks like. At the start of a new year, we often think about our hopes and set resolutions. Is setting goals passé now? Not for students. And especially not for young adolescents, regardless of what else is happening in the larger world. Goals make the world manageable. They make … Continue reading Setting goals with students for the new year →
Editorial Note: This post was scheduled for publication prior to the events in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. As ever-increasing cracks in the foundation of our democracy reveal weakness and corruption, so too do these revelations allow the light of justice and truth to penetrate. As educators, our work to help young people learn … Continue reading The Return of the Light →
When is a “lol” not a “lol”? Would a “ftw” hit as hard by any other name? Two things: Shakespeare’s now spinning in his grave like a turbine, powering most of greater Stratford; That’s absolutely fine with us. Language evolves. It grows and bends and twists and curls back on itself like you wouldn’t believe. … Continue reading “Because internet”: learning to communicate in different online spaces →
Listener, how do you feel about positive interventions, behaviors and supports? I don’t mean in general — in general those all sound fine and dandy — but when they come within 100 yards of a school, they turn into PBIS. And that’s another ball of wax entirely. Today author Thomas Knestrict joins me on the … Continue reading #vted Reads about PBIS →
Hybrid and remote teaching environments require us to tap into everything we know about designing engaging and targeted learning opportunities. At the same time, the contexts are often unfamiliar. So what we need is a blended and hybrid teaching toolkit. When looking to design a successful remote or hybrid learning experience, consider thinking about what … Continue reading Building a blended & hybrid teaching toolkit →
Because being “present” is very different from simply being here. Everyone reading this blog has very clearly moved on from beginning each day by simply reading out a list of names and putting a big old checkmark next to each one. Everyone. Those horror stories we’ve heard, about students being marked absent simply because they … Continue reading 4 ways to re-take taking attendance →
Listeners, I’m angry. I’m angry about the failure of our political leadership, the unmitigated disaster of climate change, and the risks we’re asking our educators and students to take right now. I’m angry, and I’m hurt, and frustrated, and I’m not the only one. I know you’re angry, and I know our students are angry. … Continue reading #vted Reads with Elijah Hawkes →
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to think and talk about innovative school change. It’s difficult to see the start of this school year with a heart that’s anything but desperately worried for students, for teachers and for families. We want this school year to be fruitful in terms of learning, but we’re also shocked and dismayed … Continue reading What can we learn from summer unschooling? →
The return to school is usually filled with excitement, anticipation, and maybe a little nervousness. This year though? Much more nervousness with the excitement. How can we anticipate what it will take to keep teachers and students safe? While each of our communities and school leadership put their hearts and minds into that question, we’re … Continue reading Re-connect & re-imagine this return to school. →
Ah, the end of a school year. Always frenetic, and beautiful, and tear-filled and inspiring. Filled with rituals that educators and schools have developed with and for their community to bring closure. And now, this year. How can we develop new rituals or modify existing ones to honor everyone’s hard, hard (hard) work at the … Continue reading 5 ways to bring closure to this school year →
It all started with a pandemic Dear reader, as you are well aware, back in March a global pandemic struck and in-person schooling was suspended for the remainder of the school year. Quite suddenly, my family, like many, found ourselves home together all day, every day. My kids, also like many, thrive on routine. When … Continue reading Project-based learning at home →
It is spring. I know, snow has fallen and it has been cold lately, but it’s officially May. And while school might not look like every other bustling year with our end of the year celebrations, showcases, exhibitions, and events, we can still find ways to celebrate and share student learning. You might find yourself … Continue reading How to throw culminating events — online! →
JOY + CARE + RESILIENCE Lots of educators, students and families are telling us that we can’t simply replicate in-classroom learning via video conferencing and assignments. It is *too* much for teachers and students and families. It doesn’t offer the kind of hands-on learning we know students enjoy, along with the flexibility families need in … Continue reading Introducing: The Joy Project →
As we consider widespread school closures and how we might adapt, it’s important that our aim isn’t to recreate a typical school day, but instead, leverage strong teacher and student relationships and available technology to prioritize connection and support each other, and to create and document learning experiences and activities. We are in uncharted waters. … Continue reading Preparing for remote learning →
How PAML scaffolds screencasts for students Students and their families at Peoples Academy Middle Level have participated in student led conferences for a number of years now. What’s new this year? The opportunity for each 5th and 6th grader to tell the story of their learning through video evidence and reflection. It’s these “Learner Story” … Continue reading Video evidence & reflection for student-led conferences →
The middle school movement has been a powerful force for positive change. It’s rooted in progressive education, with special attention to the developmental needs of young adolescents. In Vermont, we are ahead of most other states in implementing middle school systems and associated student-centered practices. That’s a good thing. Relative newcomers to this place, like … Continue reading On equity in the middle school movement →
Feedback is a key component of a successful, celebratory and growth-oriented student-centered conference. And your colleagues, your students and their families can all play vital roles in assessing student-led conferences. Who should be giving and receiving assessments? There’s *lots* of room at this table. Remember: feedback is a gift. (Resist the freakout: when we talk … Continue reading Who should be assessing student-led conferences? →
Chapter 1: Personalized Learning for Young Adolescents Foundations and Connections Personalized Learning and Personal Learning Plan,The Glossary of Education Reform, New England Secondary Schools Consortium How Personal Learning is Working in Vermont, Penny Bishop, John Downes, and James Nagle, Educational Leadership, 2017 Promising State Policies for Personalized Learning, Susan Patrick et al., iNACOL, 2016 Chapter … Continue reading Chapter References →
Seeing back-to-school activities & personalized learning through the lens of trauma-informed classroom practices I had a eureka! moment this summer. We are so lucky when our critical thinking converges ideas in ways previously unrealized. It transformationally reframes our thinking. Those moments enrich ourselves and arrive with the promise that our private learning should have public … Continue reading Trauma-informed personalized learning →
This one goes deep, folks. On this episode educator Corey Smith joins me to talk about The Benefits of Being an Octopus, by Ann Braden. We talk glitter and posterboard, coffee and peanut-butter smoothies, and using the Equity Literacy Framework to dismantle inequality in our systems of learning with both students AND adults. What might … Continue reading #vted Reads: The Benefits of Being an Octopus →
*Why* do you want to personalize learning? What’s your purpose for using PLPs? Teachers typically have a range of priorities. Two common ones are to increase equity and to foster social emotional learning (SEL), both of which are rooted in knowing students well. Increasing equity PLPs provide a powerful way to address inequity in schooling. … Continue reading 3.1 What Are Your Pedagogical Priorities? →
What is a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP)? Ultimately, a PLP is a tool. It can help us get to know our students better and teach us how to support each student’s learning. PLPs can also be: A creative way for students to show their identities, hopes, and interests A portfolio documenting students’ learning journeys. Demonstrations … Continue reading 1.2 The Definition of a PLP →
HELLO! I’m Jeanie Phillips and welcome back to vted Reads! We’re kicking off our second season of the podcast with none other than author, professor, associate dean and Vermont education LEGEND, Dr. Penny Bishop. We’ll talk VT PLPs, the power of a compelling school example in changing classrooms practices, and how to steal all the … Continue reading #vted Reads: Personalized Learning in the Middle Grades, with Penny Bishop →
The great big myth that persists with any hands-on, project or inquiry-based approach? That teachers simply “turn students loose” on a project, and sit back and drink tea. The truth couldn’t be more different. Teaching becomes more personal, more centered on students’ needs, and interests. Less tea, more action. What does this look like? It … Continue reading Ch 6: Scaffolding for Equitable, Deeper Learning →
Ah, that second pillar. Flexible pathways are key to engaging learning. They’re all those great ways we engage students actively and meaningfully. According to the Vermont Agency of Education: Flexible Pathways are any combination of high-quality expanded learning opportunities, including academic and experiential components, which build and assess attainment of identified proficiencies and lead to … Continue reading Ch 5: Flexing Your Pathways →
We’ve seen educators launch PLPs in many different ways. And we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Students, of course, have helped show us the way. Here are two ways to avoid common pitfalls. Check out the book to see more of these! DO: Start with engaging learning Often, teachers start with … Continue reading 2.2 Avoid the Pitfalls! →
Remember that first pillar? You know, the one that had PLPs at the top and knowing students at its foundation? Right! It emphasized providing a window into students’ identities. Students need to feel safe at school, to know that they can truly be themselves, and that they’ll be seen, heard, accepted, and encouraged for who … Continue reading 2.1 Knowing Students Well →